Williams refuses to accept Botha battle is off

SONNY BILL Williams is hopeful he will still be able to fight Francois Botha and finish his rugby union commitments in Japan before joining Sydney Roosters, despite suggestions from the club he is in doubt for the start of the NRL season.

After arriving in Sydney yesterday morning, Williams headed straight to Roosters headquarters at Moore Park to undergo an MRI scan for the pectoral muscle injury he sustained playing for Panasonic Wild Knights last weekend and was shattered when he received the results.

However, he refuses to accept the bout is off against Botha - a former world heavyweight champion, who has fought Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis - and he may have played his last game of rugby union.

Despite being booked for surgery today, the 27-year-old All Blacks superstar hopes to return to Japan to help the Wild Knights in the Top League competition and postpone his fight with Botha until February.

That would leave him on schedule to meet the timeline that had already been agreed on for him to join the Roosters before the start of the season.